ATM over satellite for the warfighter

As a New World order takes shape, one thing is for certain-United States military forces will be involved in armed conflicts in austere locations around the globe with minimal notice. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have recognized this and have called for an increased reliance on information technology at the tactical theater, and strategic levels. Reliance on satellite communications will undoubtedly increase, whether on military owned or commercially leased satellites. It is the author´s belief that traditional terrestrial (fiber) based communication schemes such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) will be fully ported to space vehicles. The ATM provides a means to transport voice, data, imagery, and video at high speeds while maintaining a negotiated quality of service. The paper discusses current commercial and military initiatives that are proving the benefits of ATM over satellite. It describes the challenges of hosting this technology on LEO, MEO, GEO, and hybrid satellite constellations. It analyses the importance of using crosslinks for intersatellite communication and the constraints this may put on transmission quality of service. It argues the issue of whether the military should own such a system outright, or possibly lease transponder space on a commercial platform